


The Birds & The Bee

by GlasyaLabolas



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Miraculous Ladybug, Alternate Universe - Miraculous Ladybug Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Coming of Age, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Romance, Secret Identity, Sexual Humor, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-07 20:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16415201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlasyaLabolas/pseuds/GlasyaLabolas
Summary: Hibiya struggles with his new role as a superhero and his growing attraction to his partner, Songbird. Meanwhile, Delic struggles with his unrequited crush on Hibiya and decides to dive into his new superhero duties as the perfect distraction.[Pseudo rewrite of The Bird & The Bee. Knowledge of Miraculous Ladybug not necessarily required.]





	1. Zero to Hero (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpiralCreator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiralCreator/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless my soul!  
> (The Hercules OST is the best Disney soundtrack. Fight me, punks.)
> 
> Surprise! I have this listed as a gift, but, in the interest of honesty, I'll admit that I've been working on this off and on for an estimation of about three weeks now. My relief to be done with this monstrous chapter isn't palpable via text. It might be my longest chapter so far, though I don't keep records of such things. When I write serial fan-fiction as opposed to other formats, I find myself to be more impatient with myself because I want to push my stuff out quicker despite my perfectionism. Regardless, I always feel rather ridiculous afterwards for being like that. Every time I returned to this document to edit and continue writing it, I would make a rather important change here or there.
> 
> Light reminder that "akuma" is just Japanese for devil or demon. (What even, Zagtoon? The Miraculous are more than heavily implied to be Chinese in origin too.)

There’s a strange small black box sitting in the center of Hibiya’s bed when he returns home from school. He ponders recent events deserving of such a spontaneous present and fails to come up with anything substantial. Never the less, it appears to be a present for him, and so Hibiya reaches over for it after depositing his schoolbag on his desk chair. The box is light in his hand, slightly bigger than his palm. He turns it over twice, examining it for any clues as to where or whom it might be from, before opening it. There’s no markings or tags, it could equally be a gift from his father or from his sibling. Hesitating no longer, Hibiya opens the clam shell box. His lips split with surprise as the afternoon sun streaming in from his windows catches its contents and causes a reflective flash of light. Nested atop the red silk bedding is a curved golden barrette. Neither feminine or masculine with it’s plain metallic design, Hibiya finds himself enraptured by the petite accessory. He had been in need of a new hair clip and this one was absolutely perfect! It would go with everything he owned, its simplicity meaning it would elegantly match with any article of clothing!

 

Hibiya immediately sets his mind on figuring out whom his gift-giver is when the accessory is suddenly glowing with a bright shell of light. To the brunet’s credit, he does not scream with panic. His eyes widen and his fingers freeze in the air, having been ready to pluck the barrette, as a ball of light shoots free from the glowing barrier in a split second. It zips around Hibiya with quick movements, its glow fading away. Hibiya hears the steady buzzing of an insect’s wings before he can properly see them vibrating from the creature’s back.

 

“What’s this?” The creature says with an interested tone as it zips towards Hibiya’s face. “A new holder?” The brunet gets a good look at it then, his startled eyes analyzing the creature with haste. The creature resembles a hornet, with its buzzing wings, three sets of limbs, antennae, and rather large stinger. Its mouth lacked mandibles, its face smooth and round, however its possible bite was not what frightened Hibiya the most.

 

The creature buzzes around Hibiya in quick circles as it finishes with examining his face, presumably sizing him up for something. “You’ll do nicely.” It says as it spins around the brunet a final time, stopping before Hibiya’s face yet again.

 

“Excuse me?” Hibiya exclaims with confused offense, finally speaking to the creature.

 

“Greetings. My name is Linda Linda,” it finally introduces itself with a proud gesture towards itself, “and I’m a kwami.”

 

“A… Kwami.” Hibiya repeats slowly as Linda nods encouragingly. The brunet’s panic is defusing as the creature addresses him politely, seemingly holding no ill intentions towards his person.

 

“I grant powers to chosen individuals, such as yourself.” Linda continues, as if sensing the flood of questions beginning to drown the brunet’s brain. “As the hornet miraculous holder, you’ll have the power to fight and--”

 

“No, thank you. I do not want powers, of any sort,” Hibiya interrupts with a bouncy shake of his head, “and I certainly do not want to fight anyone or anything for that matter. You should find someone else.” Gently closing the jewelry box, Hibiya gestures it towards the kwami.

 

Linda narrows his eyes, his single set of arms crossing as his wings buzz with agitation. Despite the teen’s refusal, his voice and eyes had lacked conviction. “But _you_ were chosen; trusted!” He tries to reason. “If there was someone better suited to hold the hornet miraculous, I would be there with them instead.”

 

Hibiya’s expression falls and he sucks in his lower lip to bite as he considers the supernatural creature’s words. He was special in the eyes of this creature? Apart from surely millions of others? It must be attempting to fool him. “What are your motives for being here, exactly?”

 

Linda’s face softens. Suspicious or not, he was happy that his convincing was working. “Well, someone must be misusing a miraculous. The hornet miraculous is an offensive miraculous, and it carries the ability to purify curses.” Hibiya seems to falter at the mention of fighting, but Linda holds out hope. This was _his_ chosen after all! “You would be fighting to protect your fellow citizens until you could collect the misused miraculous and return it to the current guardian of the miraculous.”

 

The room is silent for an extended length after that. Linda hovers idly in front of the teenager, staunch in his stance but relaxed all the same. Hibiya’s conflicted face finally snaps with a huff. “You will teach me everything I must now?” He asks as he looks down at the kwami with consideration.

 

Linda’s responding grin is wide, his right arm crossing over his thorax. “Kid, you couldn’t _ask_ for a better teacher!” He boasts proudly.

 

* * *

 

Delic stands in his bedroom doorway, his perplexed eyes on the small black box on his bed. He leans back, suspiciously gazing down both ends of the hallway despite already knowing that he was home alone. As the blond leans back upright, he shrugs to himself. This was unusual, but gift is a gift. Delic drops his schoolbag onto the floor as he walks straight to his bed. Picking up the box, he immediately opens it, not allowing his curiosity to stew a moment longer. The contents catch the light streaming in from his open window blinds, a bright shine rolling over it.

 

Delic blinks down at the silver pendant necklace resting on the red cushion inside. _Kinda boring_ , he thinks, _but I won’t complain_.

 

Turning towards his dresser, the blond drops the box amongst the clutter atop his dresser and reaches around his neck to remove the tie from his uniform first. Delic’s pulled the knot free when the black jewelry box suddenly begins to glow. His hands freeze in the air, fingers squeezing the fabric, as his eyes roll to the box. A full orb of light is emanating from the jewelry box when Delic exhales, “Oh, that’s probably not good.”

 

Delic jerks back reflexively as a bright ball bolts free from the light, his hand releasing his tie to hang limply around his neck. The ball flies around his bedroom, its bright light fading as it glides around. As it quickly becomes visible, Delic relaxes somewhat. The creature looks like a bird, despite its unusual bright pink coloring. No larger than a particularly fat mejiro, at that.

 

“Oh my gosh! Hi!” The creature chirps excitedly, finally swooping down to sit atop Delic’s shoulder. It hops closer once, then twice. Getting a better look at the petite, pudgy bird, it was actually pretty cute. Now that it had stilled, he could see where its snow white feathers abruptly switched to a bright neon pink above its neck and down its back like a little cloak. It hardly struck Delic as much of a threat now, his instincts deciding that he’d rather pet it. “Hi! My name is Psyche! I’m a kwami.”

 

“Uh.” The blond ‘s eyebrows quirk with confusion. “Hi, Delic, and – uh – what?” He glances at the pink creature through the mirror above his dresser, just to make the situation feel more real. Delic wouldn’t be too surprised if he woke up in class at any moment. It wasn’t like other supernatural creatures that he didn’t know of couldn’t exist, this was just sprung on him a little _too_ suddenly.

 

“You must be the new chosen one for the songbird miraculous!” Lifting from Delic’s shoulder, Psyche flutters onto the dresser to sit alongside of the jewelry box. He spreads both of his wings towards the forgotten pendant, flapping them excitedly. “As a kwami, I can bestow you with my powers via my miraculous!”

 

Oh yeah, Delic’s definitely had dreams like this. “Not interested,” he refuses flatly. “Good luck finding someone else though.”

 

Psyche immediately puffs up at that, his feathers bristling all over. With the creature’s pure white and bright pink feathers, its started to resemble a novelty toilet bowl brush more than an actual bird. Delic has to press his lips together just to keep his laughter caged in his chest.

 

“The guardian brought me to _you_. So _you_ must be the perfect candidate for the songbird miraculous.” Psyche crosses his wings and tips his beak upwards in defiance. “I can’t accept second best!”

 

Delic snorts and then shrugs. “Okay. Still can’t help you though, sorry.” He decides to ignore the kwami then, moving to grab his forgotten schoolbag. Psyche, on the other hand, absolutely hates being ignored and will _not_ allow it. Fluttering and landing on the blond’s schoolbag before he can pick it up, Psyche flaps his wings repeatedly to shoo Delic’s hand away. “ _Hey!_ ”

 

“ _You’re_ the best, Delili!” The kwami chirps as the blond’s face blossoms pink. “It’s _you_ or nobody!”

 

“Don’t call me _that_!” Delic shouts indignantly. He shoots his arm forward for his schoolbag again, Psyche pecking his hand at this attempt. Delic retracts his hand with a hiss, rubbing the sore spot with his other hand. Looking down at his skin, he realizes that the kwami might have actually left a bruise.

 

“The guardian would only choose the songbird miraculous if it were absolutely necessary! My miraculous is too dangerous to be trusted to _just anyone_!” Psyche continues to plea determinedly. “If I were given to the wrong hands, disasters could occur!” The pudgy creature flaps and waves its wings, miming a great panic.

 

Delic’s lips press as he frowns, his gaze still on his skin. “Why’re you telling me how easy it would be to take advantage of you?”

 

“Well,” Psyche answers cheerfully, “because you wouldn’t!”

 

Delic scoffs, rolling his eyes and staring at the wooden floor. “You don’t know that.”

 

“Of course I do,” Psyche corrects without a hint of doubt. The guardian wouldn’t be the guardian if they were a poor judge of character.

 

Crossing his arms defensively, Delic looks down at the petite creature. There’s no reason to be defiant, no reason to prove the bird wrong. Delic’s not cruel, at least not to animals or animal-looking creatures. His posture crumples with a sigh and he drops to the floor while crossing his legs. Propping his elbow on his knee, he holds his face in his palm while forcefully poking the kwami in the white breast. Psyche huffs, fluttering his wings to maintain balance as he’s pushed around on the blond’s schoolbag.

 

“Why are you here, huh?” Delic asks. “You wanna give me powers to save the world or something?” The very idea makes him want to scoff and laugh. Who knows how his strength would react with additional powers. Delic’s not against fighting, especially for good, but he doesn’t exactly want to be some Superman type. He’s no hero, he’s hardly a role model.

 

Psyche shakes his body, ruffling up and smoothing down his feathers, as Delic’s poking ceases. “Your job as Songbird would be to help find and return the lost miraculous currently being misused.”

 

Psyche watches happily as his words finally appear to be mulled over. Maybe all his chosen needs is one more nudge? “The songbird miraculous is a support miraculous.” Psyche says, cutting into Delic’s thoughts. “So if I’m here, then a purifying miraculous must be out there too! If you refuse, who knows how long it’ll take the guardian to find another worthy wielder! Your partner will be in it alone!”

 

Delic’s eye twitches as his lips press into a frown. Crossing his arms, he stares down at the pudgy kwami critically. “Do you even know what we’re up against here?”

 

“Nope!” Psyche happily chirps.

 

“ _Hah?!_ ”

 

“We’ll be winging it, Delili!”

 

* * *

 

“Linda,” Hibiya states while tucking some loose strands of hair behind his ears, “transform me.”

 

The hornet kwami zips towards the brunet, rapidly shrinking and turning into a small ball of light as it’s sucked into the miraculous barrette. A yellow beam of light starts at the top of Hibiya's head and swirls around his form, enveloping his body with its magic. Surrounded by the marigold magic, Hibiya feels his school uniform vanish as new material stitches itself in place. The golden barrette grows with a gleam of light across its surface, expanding upwards and outwards. Hibiya feels the light weight rest atop his head as the yellow magic momentarily blinds his vision and material gently attaches itself to his face.

 

Hibiya feels awkward as the transform finishes as quickly as it had began. Though the magic had felt comfortably warm and nothing poked or prodded him, something still swapped his clothes out while they were adorned. He gazes down, looking at the black fabric now stretched over his hands like gloves, and tests its fit by flexing his fingers. It was snug, but allowed complete flexibility.

 

“There’s no need to be body-shy with me.” Hibiya startles lightly as Linda’s voice is broadcasted through his mind. “I’m older than most civilizations.”

 

“Are you...” The brunet swallows down his bubbling anxiety. “ _In_ my mind?”

 

There’s a loud snort ripping through Hibiya’s mind before soft laughter. “Relax,” Linda says while calming himself, “it’s suit telepathy. And you’re not the first awkward teenager I’ve had to mentor, Hibiya.”

 

“Anyway,” the kwami segues, “how do you feel?”

 

Hibiya blinks at that, finally turning his head to his standing mirror to examine himself. As he had felt, a yellow mask now rests on his face, ringing around his eyes and sitting across the bridge of his nose. Hibiya flushes a soft pink as he looks up at the golden barrette now turned crown The kwami couldn’t possibly know of his childhood interests, could it? Baring a cherished few, he no longer possessed the collection of medieval and fairy tales from his childhood, and he most certainly did not _display_ them on his bookshelves. He even had a cape adorned as well. The pitch black material draped down his shoulders and back, the color fading into a marigold as it fell just above his waist. It didn’t seem to cover much, the back was even split into two halves under his shoulder-blades, but it wasn’t restrictive either.

 

“Rather...ridiculous.” Hibiya admits softly as he appraises the rest of his outfit. He can see that it’s a full body suit from his reflection. The pure black continuing up both of his arms and over his torso. The material over his skin feels more cottony than silky, but entirely comfortable all the same. As Hibiya scans down his form, distastefully noticing the yellow and black horizontal pattern on his leggings, he finally catches the black leather belt – the sheath, the _weapon!_ – around his hip.

 

Hibiya’s eyes widen exponentially as his fingers slip around the knuckle guard, his fingers tentatively touching the cold handle of the sheathed rapier at his side. It’s not as heavy as Hibiya has always imagined, but it still takes considerable force to pull the thin blade from its sheath. As the pointed tip slides free, the wonder disappears from the brunet’s eyes.

 

“I have no idea how to use _a weapon_ ,” Hibiya stresses. It was clear that he was to defend himself with the rapier, but his suit had minimal padding at best! He could be agile if necessary, but that did not mean that he had an above average grade in physical education!

 

“Relax, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” Linda calmly reiterates his prior promise. Even with his senses limited in the suit, he can feel how sure Hibiya’s grip is around the handle. The kid already knew how to hold it, at least. “Besides, you should have a partner out there to help you. I’m sure they’ll be fumbling with this stuff at first too.”

 

“A partner?” The brunet perks up at that, seemingly relaxing a modicum. He struggles re-sheathing the rapier at first, afraid of stabbing himself with the point despite knowing that it’d require much more force to do so.

 

“The guardian wouldn’t dump all the responsibility onto just one person. It’s always easier to share the weight, and there are as many supportive miraculous as there are offensive and defensive.” Hibiya nods along as he drops the weapon and its sheath to hang off his hip.

 

“Come to think of it,” the kwami ponders aloud. “The guardian should’ve chosen your partner miraculous with the enemy’s abilities in mind. We should already have an advantage against them.”

 

“That’s a relief, but… How am I to find them?”

 

* * *

 

“You look great, Delili!”

 

“I _always_ look great,” the blond quips while crossing his arms and lifting his chin. “Even as a circus reject.”

 

Eying himself in the mirror above his dresser again, Delic earnestly feels like a costumed acrobat. How the hell was he supposed to fight in this thin suit? It offered no padding whatsoever above his soles, it wouldn’t be resistant to any blows! If it weren’t for the supposed magic, he might as well just fight in his school uniform! Delic cracks and flexes his clothed fingers, feeling the feathery velour material now covering his body. At least it was extraordinarily comfortable, almost like a second skin.

 

Delic snorts as he compares himself against the background of his bedroom through his mirror. The suit was definitely designed against the idea of blending in, with its pristine white body and neon pink cape. The dueling colors met at his breast, just below where the miraculous now rested. The pedant had changed along with the transformation, now displaying the profile of the mejiro kwami. It didn’t move from its place, no matter how Delic poked and prodded at it, unless he deliberately tried to remove it.

 

“Stop!” Psyche warns with a whine. “If you remove the miraculous, you’ll break the transformation!”

 

The blond shrugs his shoulders as he gives up, lifting the obnoxious pink cape above his thighs. The excessive fabric was already starting to get on his nerves, maybe he could try removing it? Delic grabs some of the fabric at his front, fiddling with where the cape is clasped together.

 

“ _Delili_ ,” the kwami whines again.

 

“What? Am I gonna rip you or something?”

 

“ _There’s an akuma!_ ”

 

Delic gives up with his cape to squint at his masked reflection, his lip twitching with humor a fraction. “A _what_ now?”

 

Psyche doesn’t get to answer as the earth suddenly rocks. Delic steadies himself easily, his head spinning around to his window as he hears something heavy following the quaking earth. Without prompting, he jumps onto his bed and opens the window. The distant stomping is much clearer now, along with the screams of absolute terror.

 

Delic’s eyes narrow as he listens to whatever is terrorizing his city, unable to get vision on it through all of the towering buildings. He’s supposed to go out there and help, he was even suited up for it. He balls his fists as he stares into space with a frown, focusing in on the noises.

 

“Delili?” Psyche prods after silent a minute, cueing Delic to snap.

 

“ _Augh!_ ” The blond groans, the noise rolling into a growl. “ _Fuck it._ ” Jerking forward, Delic unlatches and lifts the window-screen. He’ll be in trouble for leaving his window completely open for whomever that wants to stroll right in, but…

 

There’s no buts. He’s _so_ grounded.

 

_Sorry about leaving us open for being robbed, Dad, but – you see – I had to go fight devils in a bird themed superhero suit that a magical bird that came from a necklace gave me! I was definitely not sneaking out to do drugs._

 

“What the hell’s the point of a secret identity anyway?!” Delic complains as he climbs up the fire escape. Like no one is going to see him leave his apartment eventually and put the pieces together! Hell, if he really did tell the honest truth to his old man then his dad wouldn’t think that he was lying! He knows that Delic can come up with a better lie than _that_ ridiculous nonsense!

 

“It’s to keep you and your family safe!” Psyche helpfully tweets.

 

“People already try to off my old man,” the blond states calmly, “it doesn’t go well for them.”

 

“Hey, Delili?” Psyche interrupts at that. “What did you mean, when you said that your family was ‘special’?” The kwami asks tentatively as they quickly reach the rooftop.

 

* * *

 

Hibiya was in over his head, he was absolutely certain of it. While Linda had insisted that he’d be perfectly fine if he leapt from his balcony, there was no way on this earth that Hibiya was ever going to do that. He had briskly walked through the empty apartment instead, having even prepared a lie about forgotten school books in the off-chance that someone were there. The transformation could be toggled without consequence as long as he didn’t use his magical abilities, and finding an abandoned alley in the city to transform back in hadn’t been difficult in the least.

 

The suit made Hibiya faster, his stamina now longer. He never broken out into a run as he followed the chaos, but his brisk walking managed to get him to where he needed to be with time to spare. Between the terrified citizens fleeing and screaming and the loud, distant roaring, it had not been difficult to find the akuma. The sidewalks were growing more and more dense with people as Hibiya had pushed through them. Several people divided into the street to run away faster, many of the cars on the street already abandoned and stationary. Hibiya had stumbled on the rocking earth as he took to the road with a few others, catching himself against one of the vehicles in time to avoid falling.

 

The earthquakes were ramping up in strength by the second, the ground shaking with the force of an armored tank crashing to earth. The whole street had frozen and shrieked with terror as the deep roaring grew closer and was followed by the unmistakable noise of cars being crushed. The people in the road immediately began to panic, trying to push and shove their way back into the packed sidewalk. Hibiya had pressed himself against a car to avoid being knocked over, when the cursed creature finally stomped into view around the intersection.

 

The scaled beast stood much taller than the cars, rivaling the surrounding buildings. It opened its mouth, exposing its rows upon rows of teeth, and roared at the screaming crowd. Primarily standing on four legs, it used its extra pair of reptilian limbs to stabilize itself against the buildings for its sharp turn around the corner. People pushed harder against one another as it reared the corner surprisingly quickly for a beast of such great stature, several ducking into buildings as a last ditch effort to hide.

 

Hibiya would have fallen to the asphalt, had he not been leaning against an abandoned vehicle. The beast was hungry, his primal instincts screeched as large globs of drool fell from the its mouth. The people crammed on the sidewalks were like a school of fish to the hungry predator and he desperately did not want to imagine being scooped in that gigantic maw with hundreds of others, but Hibiya’s mind had jerked to a complete halt. The screaming on both sides of him had grown louder, but Hibiya couldn’t hear a single thing as his wide eyes stayed locked on the akuma. He was trapped in the middle of the street as it stomped towards him, crushing empty cars under its clawed feet as if it were walking on brittle fall leaves.

 

The brunet swallows as he begins to tremble, leaning further back against the car. How was he supposed to fight _that_?! It had to be the size of a whale, what on earth was a flimsy _rapier_ going to do against it?! Linda was absolutely wrong, Hibiya was not the one for this job. You would have to be completely reckless or a fool to try and fight that monster! Magic or no magic!

 

The akuma’s head snaps downwards and to the right as something collides into the side of its head, sending the beast’s skull crashing into an adjacent building. It grinds out a guttural growl as whatever that’s struck it latches onto its scaly skin. Hibiya’s head jerks to follow the action, his eyes never leaving the creature.

 

“Hey there,” a blond in a similarly brightly colored suit greets down at the akuma. With his feet planted under either side of the akuma’s right eye, he holds himself over the beast’s eye with a tight grip on the skin above its eyelid. “So, I’m looking for someone, but, y’know, I can’t imagine you’ve seen them!” He laughs with forced genuinity before pushing his feet off of the akuma with a hop, stomping into the beast’s eye as his feet in the swing back down. The akuma roars in pain as the suited blond lets go, spinning around in his fall to land gracefully on his feet.

 

Hibiya’s fear stricken heart is beating heavily in his chest as the beast swings one of its limbs out, swiping at the blond as he ducks just in time. Twisting its head free from the buildings, it turns and roars down at the brightly colored hero. The blond’s face sinks with a gag as his hair is ruffled by the creature’s breath. Hibiya’s gut churns at he watches the unperturbed blond stand before the akuma’s row of teeth. It snaps its mouth forward, missing as the young man takes a long step back while bending out of the way.

 

“Hibiya,” Linda broadcasts through the brunet’s mind, reminding the teen of his presence. “While your partner has it distracted, look for its cursed item!”

 

“R-right,” Hibiya stutters. The akuma is still trying to snap its jaws around the blond, his partner easily avoiding each attempt with a twist, twirl, or bend. Hibiya’s almost distracted by the other’s fluid movement, he can’t imagine being so relaxed while staring down his possible death. What would a cursed item even look like? Linda had mentioned that it could be anything with an intense emotional connection to the akumatized victim. Hibiya desperately scans the akuma for anything out of place. It’s a dragon, he’s long realized, come to life to wreck havoc on Tokyo like in an old film. Scales, horns, claws, fangs; nothing unusual stood out to the brunet from his position! He could even see down the beast’s entire underbelly as it grew closer while aiming for his partner.

 

The akuma growls in frustration, preparing its body for another swing at the blond nuisance. Hibiya screams and shrinks into a crouch behind his car as the akuma stomps one of its feet down onto it, crushing the metal like cardboard and impaling the hood with its sharp nails. The dragon crooks its head at the noise, its neck twisting from the blond on its right to the brunet on its left.

 

Hibiya realizes his egregious error as hot breath hits him like a strong breeze, his heartbeat pounding like a drum in his ears. He refuses to turn and look, knowing he’ll freeze up even worse than he already has. Hibiya shouldn’t be _here_ , he should have _never_ agreed to this! He was so foolish!

 

“ _Hibiya,_ ” Linda’s strong voice tries to shake the teen out of his panic. “You _need_ to defend yourself! You _can_ do it!”

 

“I-I--” Hibiya’s stutter breaks into another scream as something warm scoops him up with ease. His side connects with something solid as his legs are hoisted up from the underside of his knees, whatever that has captured him tightly curling their appendages around his torso. Hibiya’s scream dissolves into a squeak as he realizes that the touch is human. Whipping his head up, Hibiya flushes at the sight of his partner. There’s a loud roar of frustration, snapping Hibiya’s eyes over the blond’s shoulder to the slowly shrinking akuma. Had he abandoned the fight just to get Hibiya out?

 

The brunet’s flush paints his face the same shade of pink as the protective film over the blond’s eyes. Hibiya’s stricken with embarrassment as he realizes the intimate position he’s in with his _very male_ partner. The other man doesn’t seem to notice his inner struggle at all, his pink washed eyes focused in front of them as he keeps running from the chasing akuma. A squeeze closer is the only warning Hibiya gets before the blond hops from the asphalt onto one of the many abandoned cars. Hibiya’s jostled with the movement, forcing him to twine his arms around his partner’s neck while desperately trying not to think about it. He’s suddenly dipped forward, the underside of his thighs brushing the other man’s before the blond launches them into the air with a braced jump. Hibiya yips, tightening his hold and pressing himself closer to the blond as the car beneath them groans from the force.

 

The whipping wind obscures every other noise from Hibiya's ears as he watches the surrounding buildings rise with them. His eyes widen as their altitude surpasses a nearby department store rooftop, his grip managing to grow tighter. Just how high could this man jump?! Wasn’t he afraid of the fall?!

 

“Hey,” the blond’s smooth voice says. Hibiya’s eyes snap back to his face in time to watch his marigold hair sway with the wind direction, they were already starting to fall; and fast. “Don’t tense up, okay?” The other man’s confident eyes stray from his course to Hibiya’s momentarily, making sure that the brunet was listening. Hibiya’s face heats up as their eyes meet for the first time. “I’ve got you.” Hibiya nods dumbly as the blond’s rich voice seeps through his suited skin and melts his very bones.

 

Luckily, Hibiya’s limbs are practically gelatin when they hit the ground like a boulder. The asphalt cracks uproariously with the impact, the road breaking under the blond’s feet and fissuring outwards. Hibiya’s shaken aggressively as they land, but not once dropped. His partner releases a long, shaky exhale as he tries to stabilizes himself on his wobbling legs after the impact. With another person cradled in his arms, landing was much more of a difficult feat than it had been by himself before.

 

“ _Woah!_ ” The blond squawks as they tip forward. Hibiya gasps as he feels himself slip, clutching himself closer to the other man by the hold on his neck and rerouting their course backwards. Hibiya’s partner manages one awkward step on the unstable ground before tipping too far backwards. The blond takes the brunt of the impact as they fall to the road, grunting as Hibiya lands on top of him on the broken asphalt.

 

Hibiya scrambles to push himself up and look down at his partner, mindless that he’s now partially sprawled across the other man. “Are you alright?”

 

“Are _you_?” The blond fires back, one of his eyebrows raising.

 

Hibiya feels his face grow hot again. “Yes, thanks to you.”

 

“Well,” the blond says as he sits up, “then I’m just dandy.” Hibiya slides back with the movement, his rear connecting with his partner’s warm body and cueing him to finally realize his position on top of the other man. He squeaks and jerkily rises, his posture going rigid. _He had been–! It would’ve looked like–!_

 

“You’re my purifier, right?” The other miraculous wielder asks as he stands up. Placing one hand over his shoulder, he massages and rolls it before doing the same to the other.

 

Hibiya’s mind attempts to blank out all thought except for the height difference between himself and his partner, and he almost misses the other man’s question. “Y-Yes?” He replies with a strained voice, staring up at the taller man.

 

“Songbird,” he finally introduces himself with a roll of his eyes. “Who’re you supposed to be?” Hibiya’s heart stutters as the other man appraises his body. Humor lights up the blond’s eyes as they stop at Hibiya’s crown. “Queen Bee?”

 

Hibiya presses his lips together. He was no woman. “Hornet,” he corrects.

 

Songbird chuckles airily, and Hibiya’s blush brightens. “Oh yeah, _w_ _ay_ more fierce.”

 

A distant roar cuts through the lightening mood. Hibiya watches Songbird’s head whip in the direction of the noise, his expression switching back to a serious one as the ground rocks underneath them. The blond’s eyes narrow momentarily before he turns his softening gaze back to Hibiya.

 

“Hey, it’s okay if you’re scared. Anyone would be against something like that.” Songbird’s reassuring baritone causes Hibiya’s spine to tingle, and his heartbeat quickens. “Besides,” the blond smirks confidently, “I’ve got this. No sweat. I’ll bring back the akuma thingy for you!”

 

Hibiya snaps out of his encroaching dreamy haze as Songbird turns on his heels and begins running back in the direction of the fight without further hesitation, the blond’s words sinking in as he disappears down the street. “ _No sweat?!_ ”

 

* * *

 

“Delili, Delili!” Psyche chirps excitedly. “Use your weapon this time!”

 

“I have a weapon?” Delic blinks. His speed lags as he remembers the stick attached to his back. Reaching around and unlocking it from its clasp, he holds up the small silver staff. It’s barely longer than his hand when perpendicular, but his fingers wrap around the pink leather grip nicely nonetheless. “What am I supposed to do with _t_ _his_ dinky thing?”

 

“Grab the top and stretch it!”

 

Delic fully stops in the middle of the road to examine it further. The silver oblong bulb on the front end must be what Psyche’s referring to, so, without further ado, Delic fits two fingers around it and pulls. The bulb detaches smoothly, a long pink rope stretching out from inside the staff. Delic whistles appreciatively. A whip is pretty cool, but his fists are still stronger.

 

Turning the staff over in his hand, Delic continues to examine it. “So, what do these three buttons do?” He asks as he finds moving his thumb over each to be a fluid transition. There was even an indented gap on the other end, shaped like a slide-in locking mechanism. Something was meant to connect and lock into place there, the only question now was what. Maybe that’s how it stayed on his back? He did have to turn it before pulling it free.

 

“Launch and retract, grapple, and grasp!”

 

“ _Grapple?!_ ” Delic shouts excitedly, clicking down on the button without hesitation. His eyes twinkle with awe as latching talons snap free from the oblong bulb. The rope wasn’t _that_ long, but maybe – it _was_ magic, right?! Rearing back his arm while aiming at an adjacent building, he cracks the whip forward and, as expected, seemingly limitless rope shoots from the small staff, grabbing onto the edge of the roof. Delic gives it an experimental tug, finding it securely locked in place. With this, he wouldn’t have to jump everywhere! He could swing and glide through the air like a real acrobat! This deal definitely wasn’t as bad as he originally thought!

 

Psyche stays quiet as his chosen takes to his miraculous weapon like a natural. Delic takes several steps back before racing forward, using his momentum to jump into a swing. The grapple skids along the rooftop, it’s talons scraping across the rim as it’s pulled with the blond’s weight. Psyche’s impressed as the blond times his button presses perfectly, retracting the grapple’s talons and its rope as he launches himself into the sky.

 

Delic closes his eyes as he reaches his peak height. He smiles absentmindedly as the wind whips around his body and through his hair. He’s falling already, gravity forcing a change in his course, but the fall is as just thrilling as the jump, if not more! Glancing down, he aims his staff at the approaching rooftop, launching out the grapple as his feet threaten to knock into one of the many cars littering the street. It grasps the rim of the roof in time to save the vehicle, the secure tug turning Delic’s fall into a swing back into the sky. A laugh bubbles free from his chest as he continues the routine towards the roaring akuma.

 

Swinging circles around that lumbering dragon will be a piece of cake! Perhaps he could even trip it with his limitless rope, if the need arises. Now that Delic was considering the possibilities, what did Psyche mean by _grasp_? Could his grapple function as a grabber as well? He’ll have to test that out on something inanimate later.

 

The akuma notices Delic immediately as he swings down the next street. It roars in his direction, changing its course and charging towards him as he drops in the center of the intersection. Delic rolls his shoulders and cracks his fingers as he patiently waits for the speeding akuma. The ground shakes, growing in intensity as the dragon closes in on the blond. Some of the nearby civilians scream from inside their buildings, either from the quaking earth or at the thought of witnessing something horrific.

 

The dragon coils its neck back with a snarl, both of its red slit eyes glaring down at the blond pest. Delic smirks, hopping off of one foot and stepping out of the way as the akuma shoots its head forward with a loud snap of its teeth. The poor thing; it was just too large, too slow, too predictable. Delic bounces around the dragon’s head to look it in the eye as it growls in annoyance. Sticking his tongue out childishly, Delic holds up his staff and presses the first button, launching the oblong top into the akuma’s eye. It makes an audible _smack_ and the teen loses some of his composure, laughing as he retracts it back.

 

* * *

 

Hibiya slows to a stop after rearing the next corner. He feels winded from his running, but much less than he’s used to in gym class. If this was his stamina with the miraculous, more practice will only lengthen his endurance. He can barely believe he’s considering _this_ long term, but it was appearing more and more doable.

 

Hibiya watches his partner dance around the akuma with awe. The blond’s smiling, confidently and happily, and Hibiya would think of him as a loon if only he wasn’t preoccupied with what the sight did to his gut. He felt warm, very warm. It had to be from the running, there was no way such a sight could be thrilling.

 

Hibiya shakes his head to snap himself out of it, there were more important things! “ _Songbird!_ ” He shouts, staring down the akuma as it turns to looks at him. The blond turns his head slightly, glancing at him but keeping his attention mostly on the akuma. “ _It has to be on its back!_ ” The dragon’s underbelly was bare, Hibiya had seen it for himself, and its head and limbs didn’t have anything that was out of the ordinary; for a devil dragon.

 

Songbird shoots him a two finger salute as the akuma growls at Hibiya, baring its fangs. It’s already made the mistake to change its target and focus from the smirking blond to the brunet. Songbird rears his whip back, more of it pink rope spilling from the silver staff behind him, and forcefully swings it down at the akuma. The rope smacks across the dragon’s snout, the excess length and oblong top changing direction with the collision and winding around the akuma’s mouth. Songbird tugs the whip, testing how tightly he has the akuma tied, and steps back. The dragon resists with its own tug, just like he wanted, and he hops into a swing. More rope rings around the akuma’s mouth as Songbird swings under and over it, landing behind its head easily. Songbird’s grip on his weapon is tight as he turns and begins walking down the akuma’s back slowly, forcing its head upwards and back.

 

Hibiya’s knees almost give as he watches his partner execute each move fluidly. What on earth did Songbird’s miraculous _do_ to him?! For that matter, what was _he_ doing to Hibiya?! He shouldn’t be _fond_ of barbaric displays of strength!

 

Unbeknownst to the brunet, Linda was having similar thoughts. It looked like Psyche hit the chosen lottery this time. How fortuitous for them both! With that kid backing up his, retrieving the lost miraculous should be a walk in the park! Based on the akuma and Songbird’s appearance, Linda already knew which miraculous they were on the look-out for. Now, if only dealing with his chosen’s hormones could be so easy.

 

* * *

 

Delic keeps his grip on his whip tight, holding it over his shoulder as he strolls down the akuma’s spine. Hornet was right, jutting out of the back of the dragon was a tiny wind up gear, no bigger than his palm. Who knows how long it might’ve taken him to find that!

 

“Break it, break it!” Psyche chirps excitedly.

 

Delic didn’t really need to be told twice. Lifting his foot, he brings it down on the gear, crushing it.

 

In an instant, the akuma bursts into a mass of inky black bubbles. Delic yelps with panic as his feet sinks into the mass before he abruptly falls through it, landing on his ass on the asphalt. It’s rapidly dissolving, shrinking until a more human shape is all that remains. The blond frowns as the black substance gives way to a child, a very recognizable and very broken toy before the boy. Delic gets ready to sit his head in his palm as the last of the mass bubbles into a the shape of a crow. It caws at him loudly before lifting off with a heavy flap of its wings.

 

Delic narrows his eyes a fraction as it shoots off into the sky. _What the hell?_

 

“ _Quick, Delili! Get it for your purifier!_ ”

 

“ _Shit!_ ” He scrambles to sit up, keeping his eyes trained on the bird when he hears something distinct fire.

 

Something catches the light as it shoots forward, spearing the crow and impaling it to the side of a nearby building. The bird spasms against the siding before exploding into more dissolving bubbles, disappearing without a trace. The speared blade glows in response. Rapidly, it begins to disintegrate into small balls of golden light, the yellow dancing outwards like pollen in a strong breeze. The golden mass separates itself in every direction, washing everything in sight with its sunny light. The ground rumbles gently as the road stitches itself back together with the magic’s touch, the crushed cars along the roads blooming back into perfect condition as the light leaves them.

 

Delic relaxes. Just as Psyche had said, all the damage was being undone. Turning his head, Delic catches sight of his partner, still poised with the empty handle of his rapier up. At least Hornet didn’t look so scared anymore, his lips parted and his eyes swirling with both awe and surprise. The brunet notices him looking after a beat, snapping into proper posture and lowering his arm to his side. Was he embarrassed? Delic hides his snort behind a smile and begins walking towards the other young man when shouting erupts from all around him.

 

Delic’s head spins around, glancing at all the people running out from their hiding places. They’re all demanding answers and screaming praises simultaneously. _Who’re you guys? That was amazing! What was that? You’re so brave! How did you do that?! Did you guys cause that?!_ Delic grunts deeps in his throat as he tries to block them all out indiscriminately, his shoulders hitching higher as he narrows his eyes. Hidden under his long cape, his hands clench into fists.

 

“We most certainly did _not_ cause this,” a stern voice splits through the noise of the growing crowd. The people disperse as Hornet approaches Delic, giving him plenty of space to walk between them as they have the blond. They’re not all scared, Delic knows. Many of them are just in awe, but that’s just as irritating, if not more! “However, we _will_ find who did and, until then, we shall handle any more akuma that arise.”

 

“Akuma?” Several people repeat questioningly as the blond blinks away some of his annoyance. Glancing at the brunet as he stops at his side, Delic reappraises his partner. Hornet had gotten over his fear pretty quickly once Delic sidelined him. He couldn’t be upset with the kid; any reasonable individual would panic in a similar situation. No, _Delic_ was definitely the odd one here. After dealing with a certain level of daily weirdness, nothing phased him much anymore.

 

“Hey, nice work.” Hornet startles as Delic pats and squeezes his shoulder. The brunet’s head snaps to owlishly look at the limb, following it to its owner before inhaling sharply. His face flushes as Delic holds back a smirk. So, he _was_ embarrassed!

 

“Thank you, Songbird.” Hornet says with a polite nod.

 

Raising his arm, Delic holds up his staff instead of gesturing with his thumb. “Wanna get out of here?”

 

The brunet pauses at the invitation, the color painting his face going largely unnoticed. His eyes dart around the crowd still vying for his attention, for his answers to their concerns before stopping at his feet. Pointedly, he doesn’t make eye contact with Delic as he agrees. “Yes.”

 

Delic doesn’t need to be told twice.

 

Hornet releases a squeak as the blond winds his other arm around his midsection, tugging him closer until their sides are pressed together. “Hold on tight!” Delic warms while aiming his weapon. Hornet’s eyes widen with panic at the silver device as he pieces their exit plan together far too late. The surrounding crowd already provided them with plenty of launching space.

 

* * *

 

Celty can barely contain her excitement to her keypad. It was just so _cool_ to have witnessed for herself. She hadn’t known what to do about a rampaging dragon when she had gotten to the scene, but then those two had shown up and dealt with it, fixing all of the damage to boot! The city already had plenty of oddities in its every nook and cranny, but now? Honest to god superheroes! It was pretty cool, to the dullahan at least.

 

“[It was _real_ , Shizuo! A _real_ dragon, like out of one of those fantasy video games!]” The blond nods along as she recounts the event. “[And these two superheros just came out of nowhere and beat the crap out of it! They even used some sort of magic to fix everything that it destroyed!]”

 

“So, they’re good guys?” Shizuo asks, flicking the spare ash from the end of his cigarette into an envelope.

 

Celty pauses for a brief second, not feeling the need to think it over too intensely. “[I think so. The yellow one said that they were there to find and stop whatever that had possessed that little boy to turn into a dragon and destroy half the city. I didn’t feel like he was lying.]”

 

Shizuo shrugs. It’ll only concern him if it bleeds into his life. Besides, it sounded like they took care of everything, from what Celty’s said. “If it was so big, how’d they beat it up so easily? More magic?”

 

Celty tips her helmet before her shoulders shrug. “[It might’ve been magic too, but the blond one had a whip.]” She provides before quickly adding more context. “[Once he tied its mouth shut with it, he used it like a rein and overpowered it!]”

 

The bodyguard takes a long drag of his cigarette, staring at his friend’s words on her bright phone screen. “Overpowered it, huh?”

 

* * *

 

“ _Delic-nii_.”

 

Said blond closes his bedroom window hastily, whirling around and pressing his back to the glass as his twin stares him down from the open doorway, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Donned in a cooking apron over his school uniform, Tsukishima somehow manages to look as threatening as he does disapproving. Delic blames genetics.

 

“It’s not what it looks like,” he offers calmly.

 

Tsukishima’s eyes leave Delic’s face to glance at the two white take-out boxes sitting on his windowsill.

 

“Okay, it’s _a little bit_ of what it looks like.”

 

The younger blond rolls his eyes behind his glasses before turning back down the hall and towards the kitchen. Delic flops onto his bed, pressing his face into the pillow to muffle his groan. With the other blond out of sight, Psyche hops out from his hiding spot behind a stack of CDs and bounces excitedly towards the white boxes. The condensed foam crinkles noisily as it is opened, piquing Delic to roll over in time to watch the pudgy kwami tip itself over into the dessert box.

 

“ _Oi_ ,” Delic hisses quietly. Psyche’s head pops up over the container’s rim to look at him, his beak now horribly smeared with multicolor cupcake icing. Narrowing his eyes at the creature, Delic grins maliciously. “Eat both and I’m wearing that apron next.”

 

Psyche’s head immediately pops back down, causing the blond to discard his expression for genuine confusion. He’s about to shrug it off like he does all of the other weird shit that Psyche has done so far, when he’s suddenly hit square in the face with a gob of icing.

 

“I'll  _always_  share some with you, Delili.” Psyche sings innocently.

 

“ _Bastard._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that this prologue is done, I can feasibly write any of the silly oneshot ideas I get while perusing ML comics and fan-fictions. I've doomed myself for all eternity! Doomed! Doomed, I say!
> 
> My current and immense exhaustion aside, I'm extremely pleased that I got to improve a lot of this AU concept. I regretted not starting off with solid enough descriptions of their costumes, just to get that entire mess out of the way while it makes sense to and to make my outfit continuity easier. Hibiya's gave me more trouble than Delic's, I ended up simultaneously staring at images of Japanese Giant Hornets and images of fanart while typing it up. (Vertical stripes really are more flattering to Hibiya's slim figure.) The miraculous accessories themselves have been switched up a bit, mostly ones I cannot discuss yet. Their miraculous weapons have been tweaked and upgraded as well. (As you could see, Delic now has his very own Trick Weapon. Please stay tuned for the next exciting chapter where he kicks the shit out of the Cleric Beast on his first try.) With a whip and rope virtually always present, I have no idea how I'm going to contain all of the bondage jokes to myself. I already struggle with the horse riding ones! (Anway,) I've also made Songbird's mode of travel much clearer, and perhaps unintentionally more exciting? (Am I allowed to link things? I don't think that I've ever tried to before? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxDtR-adiD0 ) And before anyone suggests those hanging upside down Spiderman kisses, I'll remind you of the obnoxious cape that'd smack Delic right in the face if he tried.
> 
> As always, comments of any kind are greatly appreciated! Especially critique or to point out errors, since I am without a beta reader and doing my own editing. I'll be updating the tags of this fic as I go, so if anyone has any tag recommendations for making this fic more accessible and or to refine the warnings, please let me know in a comment. Thank you for reading!


	2. Holding Out for a Hero

Thoughts of Songbird plague Hibiya’s mind long after they’ve parted ways. The brunet had been determined not to glance at the ground below them as his partner swung them away from the crowd, keeping his eyes on the man he was tightly embracing instead. Songbird either hadn’t minded Hibiya’s unabashed ogling or simply didn’t notice in favor of focusing on getting them elsewhere, allowing the brunet to watch the way his eyes lit up and shone with joy as he executed each maneuver through the air despite Hibiya’s additional weight. Hibiya hadn’t had the time to fully appreciate how handsome his partner’s face was until then either. His knees were free to give in the air, so Hibiya committed the blond’s face and his perfectly sculpted jawline to memory. Hibiya was very familiar with men this gorgeous, but they were typically made of marble or were painted on vases. He never had to _talk_ to them, much less _work_ with them. How was he supposed to communicate effectively when enough saliva pools in his mouth to cause him to choke and his brain fries every coherent thought in favor of _how tight is that costume_ and _he feels so strong_ _and_ _so warm_? He was better than this! He wasn’t some primitive animal, fueled by the calls of reproduction! They couldn’t even reproduce!

 

Songbird had landed them on a roof several blocks away from the scene of the akuma, mindless of Hibiya’s inner turmoil as he unwound his arm from around the brunet. Hibiya mourned the secure hold as it disappeared, his back tingling as the cool air touched the exposed warm spot. “This should be far away enough.” Songbird had said before smiling brilliantly at the brunet, stuttering Hibiya’s heartbeat. “See you next fight, Hornet.” The blond had saluted with two fingers before firing his staff and flying off. Hibiya had nodded mindlessly and was fully prepared to stand there, watching the sky in a hormonal daze as the hero rapidly disappeared in the distance, if it weren’t for Linda’s protesting.

 

Hibiya blinks from his reverie as the elevator dings and its doors open. Readjusting his hold on the large vase in his arms, he steps out of the elevator with his bags and walks down the hallway towards his apartment. Kwamis required food as well as rest after a battle, like any other reasonable creature would. Hibiya had grown lightly apprehensive as Linda explained that using the suit’s abilities depleted a kwami’s magic quickly, only giving the wearers a small amount of time to find a hiding spot before they would de-transform and that they would need to refuel their kwami as soon as possible if they were still needed in a fight. Neither he nor Songbird had used their abilities today, but they both would have to prepare to refuel their kwamis at a moment’s notice. At least their enemy, as Linda had stated, should be resting for a short while as well.

 

Retrieving his key from his pocket, Hibiya types in the password for the security lock before inserting and turning the key, letting himself in. Getting the heavy door open is a little bit tricky with the packages around his arms and the large vase hugged to his chest, but he manages to do it without damaging his new purchases. Now that he was home, he didn’t have much farther to lug everything! Hibiya takes a deep breath as the door slowly closes itself behind him, the smell of freshly brewed coffee hitting his nostrils as he hears the raspy voice of his company.

 

“What the hell is all that?” Hibiya turns his head to look at Hachimenroppi as he stands in the open kitchen, holding a steaming mug and eying Hibiya’s purchases.

 

“Good evening, Hachimen-nii.” Hibiya greets politely as he thinks over his next words. Glancing at the potted plant for additional support, he calmly states, “I’ve decided to take an interest in horticulture.”

 

Hachimenroppi’s eyes narrow, his upper lip rising minutely. “ _You_?” He asks suspiciously. “ _You’re_ gonna play with dirt?”

 

Hibiya scoffs, tilting his chin upwards. “I’m not going to _play_ with it, and I was sure to buy a pair of proper gloves to minimize the mess on my person.” Hibiya had been sure to buy _everything_ he would need to care for his new plant, forcing Linda to elaborate on and on while he guided the brunet around the shop. Gardening was not going to be a daunting task though, he merely wanted to be properly equipped for this new responsibility. Hibiya might actually find tending to a plant to be quite relaxing.

 

Roppi rolls his eyes and props his elbow in the palm of his free hand, holding his mug of coffee closer to his face. “So, what kind of flower is it?” He asks before swallowing down the hot liquid.

 

Hibiya’s gaze turns to the yellow flowers in the pristine white vase. “Calendula officinalis,” he replies as he admires the wondrous sight of the marigolds. He had allowed Linda his choice of flower, having swiftly turned down the kwami’s other choice of meal; grasshoppers. Sure, pet shops sold such things, but Hibiya still fervently opposed the idea. He was not going to handle bugs, and he _most definitely_ was _not_ going to store live insects in his bedroom or on his person!

 

Hachimenroppi hums, the noise bored. “It suits you,” he says while appraising the wide bloom of the flowers, “it even looks pompous.”

 

Hibiya snaps his face to his sibling, narrowing his eyes minutely while pressing his lips together and raising his chin. Despite his effort, Roppi isn’t daunted by the scolding expression in the least. “You could do more useful things than tease me, Hachimen-nii!” Hibiya turns on his heels then, briskly walking to his bedroom to deposit his items.

 

Hibiya already has the perfect place in mind for the marigolds when he temporarily sets them on top of his desk to put down his bags. He turns back towards the door with the intention to close it, halting in place as Hachimenroppi stands under the archway. Lightly confused, Hibiya prepares to speak when the other brunet beats him to it.

 

“Did you hear about that incident near Ikebukuro today?”

 

Hibiya stills, recognizing the familiar look in his older brother’s eyes. He was being scrutinized, but for what reason? He acquired his hobby spontaneously, but surely it wasn’t too unusual. Family or not, Linda had assured him that no one would be able to see through the magic of the suit. His identity should be kept a secret. Hachimenroppi couldn’t suspect him so soon. Hibiya keeps his composure easily; Hachimenroppi’s gaze was nothing compared to their father’s. “There was an incident near Ikebukuro today?” He asks back genuinely, his lie spilling neatly. He hadn’t actually known where he was today at first, much less how close Ikebukuro was or not.

 

Hachimenroppi’s stare stays fixated on Hibiya as he goes about unpacking and organizing his purchases on his desk. “Yeah,” he mumbles in response after a beat of silence, suddenly losing his conviction. Hibiya hears the long sip of his coffee before Roppi says anything more. “There was a ton of destruction. It’s all the internet can talk about right now,” he blandly states. “The old man must be shitting himself too.”

 

Hibiya’s nose wrinkles as he turns to voice his disgust at his older brother. “You’re so vulgar.” Roppi snorts, unaffected. “I’m quite fine though, Hachimen-nii. Thank you for checking up on me.”

 

Roppi’s lax posture tenses, his mouth pinching into a frown. “I wasn’t checking on you.” He grumbles. “I’m warning you not to get caught up in that shit, you wouldn’t last a minute.”

 

Hibiya nods politely, containing the urge to roll his eyes, as Roppi finally exits his doorway. “Thank you, Hachimen-nii,” he says again before shutting and locking his door behind the older brunet.

 

Linda’s head pops free from Hibiya’s jacket pocket as the lock clicks into place. “How sweet,” he humors with a wrinkled smile.

 

“That was unusual.” Hibiya murmurs to himself and the kwami, returning to the vase to move it from his desk.

 

“That your brother is worried about you?” Linda asks, zipping from his hiding spot to follow the blooming marigolds. He snags a golden petal as Hibiya walks over to the balcony windows, happily stuffing it into his mouth. It was no insect, but the sunny flowers had to be the next best substitute; and this one held a lovely bitter tang!

 

“Well, somewhat, but not necessarily that.” Hibiya admits as he stops before the small table alongside of his reading chair. It was petite, with only enough space for a cup of tea and a spare book, but it would now display the vase nicely. Sitting down in the plush chair beside it, Hibiya takes a deep breath to re-orientate and calm himself after the day’s strenuous series of events.

 

“Hachimen-nii is typically locked up in his bedroom. The akuma fight must have truly caught his interest.”

 

“Or concern.” Linda teases as Hibiya glances at him with mild consideration. Dropping his humored smile, the kwami continues seriously. “Your brother seems emotionally constipated.”

 

Hibiya’s nose wrinkles with distaste at Linda’s choice of words, but he nods. “You are correct.”

 

Linda buzzes away from the brunet at that and zips around the blooming flowers, finding the best petal to pull and eat. Hibiya’s attention drifts back to his desk as the kwami helps himself. Though his gardening tools are neatly organized in a box on his desk, his eyes fixate on his idle computer instead. Hibiya immediately perks up in his seat as his brother’s words strike him.

 

“ _It’s all the internet can talk about right now,_ ” Hachimenroppi had said. There would have to be images uploaded online already then, probably even video! Maybe they would even be in a high quality!

 

Hibiya changes seats before he realizes it, scooting his desk chair in closer to the desktop computer. He wakes up the machine hastily, opening a browser to search for the akuma attack. Results drown his screen at the press of a button. There were hundreds of pictures taken of the attack, from seemingly every angle and distance. The people in the buildings had been less camera shy than those on the ground, providing the bulk he begins skimming through. Hibiya pointedly ignores all the comments he sees, muting videos when he has to. There’s only one thing he wants to see again, and it takes him six minutes of silent scrolling to find it.

 

Linda turns to stare at Hibiya when he hears a wispy sigh from the teen. Displayed on the screen was a fairly decent photograph of the suited duo, specifically one of the blond smiling down at the brunet. Chewing the remainder of the petal in his mouth, Linda quickly swallows it down to comment. “Geez, you’ve got it _bad_.”

 

Hibiya finally feels the heat spread across his face, his hands rising to cover his embarrassment. “I don’t know how to handle this,” his muffled voice bemoans. Just remembering the day’s events signaled his brain to imagine phantom hands ghosting across his skin, embracing and cradling him as the blond had. Who knew that someone _so strong_ could be _so gentle_?

 

“The homosexual thing or the general crush thing?” Linda asks clinically, hoping to not upset the brunet further if it were the first option.

 

“No,” the brunet shakes his head, “i-it’s like my body is on fire and I can’t think straight!”

 

It’s Linda’s turn to perk up for the evening, relief flooding his tiny body. “Oh! _Puberty._ ” Hibiya’s hands jerk from his bright red face, a look of horror and embarrassment staring back at the hornet kwami. “I can leave you alone if you need to masturbate–”

 

The loud clap of Hibiya’s hands over his ears startles Linda, his wings buzzing with light agitation. The kwami harrumphs as his chosen childishly shuts him out, the brunet even swiveling his chair around to ignore him. At least the kid didn’t hate himself for his natural attraction, he was just being ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

 

* * *

 

The front door is helpfully unlocked when Shizuo gets home. “I’m home,” he calls while stepping out of his shoes in the genkan.

 

Tsukishima’s reply comes from the kitchenette, “Welcome home!” There’s a soft clatter of a utensil scrapping a pan as the teen prepares dinner in the other room. Tsuki’s content eyes are focused on the food he’s cooking when Shizuo enters the apartment further, a small smile settling on Shizuo’s face as he idly watches.

 

“Where’s your brother?” He asks, hands rising to absentmindedly remove his bow-tie.

 

“Bedroom,” Tsuki says, finally turning his head away from the food. “Could you tell him that dinner’s ready?”

 

“Yeah,” he calls while turning to walk deeper into the apartment. With Tsukishima in good spirits, Shizuo drops some of his worry for his other son. Tsuki would have let him know if Delic was off, so today must have been a decent day for them both. The agitation from the day’s work started melting off from his shoulders when he got back home, but now it could all disappear over dinner.

 

Delic’s door is slightly ajar when Shizuo gets to it, so he raps on the door once before pushing it fully open. Shizuo’s smile splits into a gawk as he finds the teen in a contorted ball on the floor. Delic’s eyes widen as he meets his father’s, his hand slipping from its prop under his chin to provide support with the other. He’s sitting on his chest, spine bent backwards and legs posed to hang over either side of his head.

 

With his feet framing his head, Delic warns, lowly and evenly, “Don’t you dare act like this is the weirdest thing you’ve ever walked in on me doing.”

 

Shizuo’s lip twitches as he closes his mouth. “It’s up there.”

 

“No, it’s not!” Delic contests with a whine.

 

“Dinner’s ready, whenever you’re done being a human pretzel.” Shizuo says, shrugging off Delic’s odd behavior and turning towards his bedroom to dress down for dinner. It’s definitely not the strangest thing he’s seen after today’s commotion.

 

Delic uncurls his legs from over his head, letting them flop to the floor before rolling over and standing up. He glances over at Psyche, who peaks out of his hiding spot behind the blond’s computer. Delic has always been flexible, he’s dabbled in ballet as a kid, but ever since he’s transformed he’s felt lighter and looser. He never knew he could contort into a back-bend until he managed to get his foot to touch his back! Granted, he hasn’t tried any sort of yoga or ballet pose since he was small and his limbs were much longer now. It could be the exercise warming him up, and probably is, but Delic keeps thinking about the miraculous and its vague magical properties. Oh hell, what if it was changing him out of the suit too? He’s just one more oddity away from being a one-man circus act as it stands!

 

Delic temporarily buries his exaggerated worries in favor of eating first. He can question Psyche later, when he’s less likely to immediately roast the bird upon an open fire. He hadn’t eaten his share of the desserts he bought earlier, anticipating his twin’s cooking, and now he was a bit agitated from hunger.

 

“What can I do to help get us to the eating part quicker?” Delic blurts loudly as he enters the living room. Tsuki had gone to the trouble of making tempura, and now the open apartment was soaked in the heavenly scent of fried batter. Delic absently thinks that he should’ve gotten doughnuts instead of cupcakes earlier, but there’s always tomorrow.

 

Tsukishima rolls his eyes fondly. Delic doesn’t see it, but he knows his brother does as such. “Set the table, please, Nii-san.”

 

“Aye, aye!” He cheers, entering the kitchenette and squeezing around his twin to do as instructed. The tall duo manage to smoothly work in tandem in the thinning space, with Tsuki portioning the food out as Delic sets the dishes down on the counter-top. The dinner table is set quickly, allowing the twins to fetch their drinks as they wait for their father.

 

Tsuki watches his sibling root around the fridge for his drink as he waits his turn. Delic was acting suspicious again, but no matter how hard Tsukishima tried to read his twin, he couldn’t pick up on anything. Mild aggravation builds in his chest as his mind and instincts disagree. Reasonably, Tsuki should be concerned, but he glances at his older brother and his gut doesn’t react. Delic was probably just doing something stupid of the normal variety, like how he ‘needed’ to have the top score at an arcade at the expense of his wallet in sixth grade, and Tsuki can let it pass without much worry.

 

“Here.” Delic says, snapping Tsukishima out of his thoughts as a bottled drink is offered to him. Tsuki politely thanks him as he takes the drink, backing further into the kitchenette to allow more space by the fridge for their father. Delic releases an irritated squawk as Shizuo ruffles his hair, nudging Delic’s head out of the way to reach past him for his drink.

 

“Pick something and close the door,” Shizuo chastises lightly. “The contents aren’t gonna change, no matter how long you stare inside the fridge.”

 

Delic pouts openly, grabbing his second choice from the shelf before joining his family at the table. The trio share thanks quietly, finally allowing Delic to begin eating with fervor. Tsuki glances at his twin with fond irritation as he immediately starts digging in. As the chef, he takes it as a compliment.

 

“I’m surprised that you have so much room after all that dessert you bought, Nii-san.” Tsukishima teases softly, beginning to eat at his own pace.

 

“I didn’t eat it _all_ ,” Delic complains after swallowing his mouthful. He’ll have to take the fall for Psyche’s diet, and there’s definitely worse things to have pinned on him. It wasn’t like Delic didn’t indulge himself occasionally anyway. “I’m not a glutton,” he jokes, “I’m a growing boy!”

 

“Growing what; a second stomach?” Shizuo tosses back lightly.

 

Delic gasps exaggeratedly, his hand draping across his forehead like a wounded woman from an old film. “You’re all just picking on me because I’m an easy target!”

 

“Yeah,” Shizuo and Tsukishima say in unison. Delic pouts once more as the other blonds smile, before dropping his act and returning to his food.

 

“So, how was school?” Shizuo asks after a quiet lull.

 

“Typical,” is all that Delic mundanely offers between bites, and Tsukishima nods in agreement.

 

“I stayed back to read in the library for a bit,” the bespectacled blond says.

 

“To _r_ _ead_ ,” Delic drawls whilst wiggling his eyebrows at his twin.

 

Tsukishima’s face crumbles and flushes a light pink. “I-I really did!” He _had_ hoped to see Hachimenroppi, but the brunet wasn’t in his usual location that afternoon. He and Roppi weren’t even like _that_!

 

“Delic,” Shizuo warns gently. The last thing they need is a flustered Tsukishima accidentally breaking the dinnerware.

 

Said blond sticks out the tip of his tongue before shoveling more shrimp tempura into his mouth. It wasn’t Delic’s fault that Tsukishima was such a pure virgin. He’s just too adorable and simple to tease! Delic can’t resist firing at such an easy target!

 

“How late did you stay at the library?” Shizuo asks Tsuki, changing the topic in effort to calm his son.

 

Tsukishima pauses, momentarily looking down at his plate in thought. “I don’t know,” he shrugs smoothly. “I was there for maybe an hour?”

 

Shizuo straightens a bit in his seat, glancing between his two sons. “So you didn’t get caught up in the commotion that Celty was telling me about.”

 

Delic pauses his eating for a brief beat. Psyche vehemently insisted that he keep his identity a secret for everyone’s safety, but he can’t just keep disappearing without a valid excuse. His family will think he’s regressed or something. He’s got to come up with something believable in case he’s questioned and can’t change the subject.

 

“Commotion?” Tsukishima asks with honest confusion.

 

“ _How_ did you miss it?” Delic stresses with a perked eyebrow. “Did you get lost again?”

 

Tsukishima’s flush reappears as he contests, “I have my phone’s GPS.”

 

“Not what I asked.” Delic tosses back with a satisfied smirk.

 

Tsukishima’s eyes narrow as his embarrassment molds into suspicion. “Was _that_ where you were?” Delic freezes instantly, widening Tsuki’s eyes with concern. “What kind of commotion was it?” He asks, turning to his father for answers.

 

“Uh,” Shizuo falters with the ridiculousness of the situation. “A dragon rampaged through the city.”

 

Tsukishima’s expression drops into a pout, obviously thinking he’s being teased.

 

“It’s true, Chibi Moon!” Tsuki’s head whips to glare annoyance at his twin, catching Delic’s playful gaze. “Two superheroes even showed up and kicked its ass. And then, they fixed everything with _magic_!” Delic wiggles his fingers towards his brother, miming casting a spell.

 

“I think Celty is forming a fan-club.” Shizuo jokes, prompting the corner of Delic’s lips to twitch as he drops his hands.

 

“So,” Tsukishima begins, squinting as if to help process everything. “There was a kaiju attack?”

 

Delic bows forward, breaking into deep, uproarious laughter as his brother and father both watch him. “Yeah,” he manages to reply between laughs, though his voice is strained. “A kaiju attack.” As long as Delic keeps laughing, he won’t feel the urge to clutch his head and wonder what his life even is anymore. He actually saved the day against a giant monster in a magical super-suit.

 

Tsukishima waits for his brother to calm down some before questioning him. “Was that _really_ why you snuck out?” He demands, staring down his twin and cueing his father to glance between the two. With the new context, everything was making more sense!

 

Delic stills again, his expression dropping into a pout as he doesn’t meet his brother’s eyes. “Maybe.” He says offhandedly, lazily shrugging one shoulder. “Before I grabbed my dessert.”

 

Tsukishima exhales through his nose as he presses his lips together. “You’re so ridiculous, Delic-nii. You could’ve just told me that you ran out to help people.”

 

Delic’s face flushes, his mouth wrinkling. “Don’t make it sound like I ran into a burning building, or something! I just helped out some stragglers running away!”

 

“But I know that you _would_ if you wanted to,” Tsuki counters. He knows his twin is a thrill-seeker, but, more importantly, he knows the completely stupid and harmful lengths his brother is willing to go for others he cares for.

 

Delic’s face burns brighter as his mouth continues to twist. “Shaddup! You’re makin’ it sound like I’m crazy!”

 

Shizuo reaches over, ruffling Delic’s hair and causing the teen to release an embarrassed squawk. Delic flails his limbs, shooing his father’s hand from his mused hair. Shizuo chuckles, leaning back in his seat as the teen fusses over his hair. “We know that you do the right thing.”

 

Tsuki nods in agreement as Delic’s cheeks ignite. “Stop teasing me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‾\\_(ツ)_/‾  
> Hibiya should be drawn with marigolds more, in my opinion. But, of course, I always just want more DeliHibi art to add to my collection. (I actually managed to get a doujin at a recent convention!) Ugh, these two idiots make me ridiculously happy.
> 
> As always, comments of any kind are greatly appreciated! Especially critique or to point out errors, since I am without a beta reader and doing my own editing. I'll be updating the tags of this fic as I go, so if anyone has any tag recommendations for making this fic more accessible and or to refine the warnings, please let me know in a comment. Thank you for reading!


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